17 Facts About Cardiac arrest

Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating.

In some cases, cardiac arrest is an anticipated outcome of serious illnesses where death is expected.

Treatment for cardiac arrest includes immediate CPR and, if a shockable rhythm is present, defibrillation.

Cardiac arrest becomes more common with age and affects males more often than females.

Cardiac arrest is not preceded by any warning symptoms in approximately 50 percent of people.

Related searches

When cardiac arrest is suspected due to signs of unconsciousness or abnormal breathing, a bystander should attempt to feel a pulse for 10 seconds; if no pulse is felt, it should be assumed the victim is in cardiac arrest.

Risk factors for sudden cardiac arrest are similar to those of coronary artery disease and include age, cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of physical exercise, obesity, diabetes, and a family history of cardiac disease.

Functional changes in the heart such as reduced ejection fraction or cardiac arrhythmia have been shown to increase the risk of cardiac arrest and act independently from the aforementioned risk factors.

Less common causes of dysrhythmias in cardiac arrest include pulseless electrical activity, bradyarrhythmias, or asystole.

Cardiac arrest can be caused by poisoning like the stings of certain jellyfish or through electrocution like lightning.

In children, the most common cause of cardiopulmonary Cardiac arrest is shock or respiratory failure that has not been treated.

Historical information and a physical exam can diagnose cardiac arrest and provide information regarding the potential cause and prognosis.

However, in face of evidence that these guidelines were ineffective, the current recommendation of ILCOR is that cardiac arrest should be diagnosed in all casualties who are unconscious and not breathing normally, a similar protocol to that which the European Resuscitation Council has adopted.

However, both the lifetime and acute risk of cardiac arrest are decreased in individuals with heart disease that perform regular exercise, which suggests the benefits of exercise outweigh the risks.

TTM in post-Cardiac arrest care has not been found to improve mortality or neurological outcomes.

Poor neurological outcomes following cardiac arrest are much more prevalent in countries that do not use withdrawal of life support as compared to those that do.

Survival to discharge from the hospital is more likely among people whose cardiac arrest was witnessed by a bystander or emergency medical services, who received bystander CPR, and who live in Europe and North America.